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An investment trust aiming to compete against buy-to-let landlords in the booming private rental market will fire the starting gun on its £175m London IPO on Wednesday, The Daily Telegraph understands.

Multifamily Housing REIT is thought to be planning to use £70m of the cash to buy an initial seed portfolio of around 650 flats homes and five commercial premises across 22 housing blocks, mostly in the north of England, the midlands and the south-west.

The trust, set up by Harwood Capital’s real estate arm, will be the first listed vehicle to focus exclusively on pre-built rental homes.

The private rental market has ballooned in recent years amid a fall in home ownership and is mostly still in...